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Fix all the little things promptly. Don't let anything go. Try to fix stuff before it causes trouble; brake pads, belts, oil leaks, any noise. Does not cost a lot or take a lot of time, just keep on top of it and also keep a maintaince record of everything done.
#1 secret isn't maintenance..... it's choosing the right brand/model!
Correct. I have a 14 year Toyota I bought new. It is still on the same back brake shoes, exhaust, radiator, hoses, etc. Problems have been minor, so minor I could fix them myself. From new I installed the best "fully synthetic" oil I could buy, usually Mobil 1. After 140,000 miles it still does not consume oil. After 60,000 miles I put into the manual transmission this oil, Castrol Syntrans Multivehicle 75W-90, after doing some research. Again a fully synthetic oil. The gear shifting is much smoother and gives the best protection. The car glides down the road at 80mph. For what I paid and the running costs, over the 14 years it has been the cheapest car I have ever had. Front brake pads, belts, fluids and filters, an A/C recharge and now just on the 3rd battery, that is all that I have spent.
If you are replacing rubber hoses I suggest to buy the silicon versions. More expensive but will last the life of the car, so no breakdowns so worth.
So, the secret is get a reliable make. Toyota and Honda are the best in this respect and use the best fully synthetic engine and transmission oils. Buying less that the best oils is false economy. I proved that.
I have to change oil about three times per year on one of my high milage vehicles. I have at least two of them done at the shop that has been maintaining my vehicles for me for over 20 years. They give me a heads up on any problems and let me know how long I can skate by until I need the work done and I make the appointment to get the work done.
A guy with the same vehicle as mine maybe a little newer has been having issues with his. He has fixed this ,fixed that , and still can't get the issues worked out so he wants to bail on it and sell it for what he paid for it. I didn't want to insult him and give him the name of my mechanic because I know he likes to think he can fix it himself. Craigslist is full of vehicles with 125,000 miles on them that need some thing repaired. Most these vehicles are owned by some one who thinks mechanics charge too much so they will dump a vehicle that's got plenty of good years left in them.
Start with a Toyota or Honda. If you really look at how they are put together, you will. "get it". Next, use FULL synthetic day one IF you are truly going to keep it. And by that I mean in excess of 120-150,000 miles/10 years.
Why? Simple. Any technical article you read will tell you the value and superior engineering synthetic oil brings to the game. Superior lubricity on start up, superior heat break down protection. Superior dissipation of heat, superior life expectancy.
But it costs twice as much.....true, but you change it half as often!!!!! Net result? You go to get it changed 1/2 as often soooooo, you save time. Goal!!!!!!! Next reason is due to the superior lubricating qualities, internal components suffer much less wear. My 99 Camry now has 204,000 miles. The engine does not burn oil and I drive it. 70-80 running around town. It is approaching 15 years of age. Not bad. AC is flawless (more on that) and the transmission is a smooth as glass.
How? By changing the oil very 5-6k miles I've suffered NO oil related issues. By flushing the transmission every 50-60k thousand miles it shifts beautifully and suffers no ill effects. By changing the timing belt along with the water pump and thermostat every 100,000 miles I've had no over heating problems.
I do the maintenance.
I'm on my third battery counting the original. The AC has never broken down, the latches get lubed. The car gets detailed.
I take care of my cars.
If you do a modicum of care, your Toyota or Honda will cost less with a minimum amount of trips to the shop. Do the maintenance. Change the filters. Change the oil. Flush the transmission and coolant when prescribed and you too will have a car that at age 15 could drive you to California and back to the east coast, no problem.
Or,
Don't take care of it and dump it every 4 or 5 years and spend considerably more on your driving appliances.
My former boss bought new in 1967 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham and it was driven daily covering his sales territory plus he has driven it to every State except Maine.
Had not heard from them in over 10 years and I get a call at work and it's the wife of my former boss back in college... she says her husband has not been able to drive the last 7 years since he was 75 and the car is simply too big for her... she said her husband wants to give it to me because he knew it would be in good hands.
So here is a then 40 year old car that had not been driven much the last 7 years that I had to find a home for...
With about 244,000 miles on the odometer, I realize the only place 20' of car is going to fit inside is about 850 miles from here... I check the fluids, belts and tires for the drive from SF to Seattle... sweet ride... only set back is normally I stop for gas once and with the Caddy I stopped 3 times.
American manufacturers have built plenty of reliable cars that stand the test of time... this car was maintained by the book since day one.
On a side note... someone noticed my California black license plate when I stopped in Olympia and commented I was so far from home... the couple were admiring the car and then asked if I drive it much...
Their jaws dropped when I told them I just drove up from San Francisco yesterday... they were amazed and my next statement was priceless... I then said, "It's a Cadillac, isn't it?"
Cars like the Toyota Corolla and Chevrolet Prizm were made on the same assembly line in Fremont California for years by United Auto Workers... proof positive we make good cars even if the identically equipped Prizm sells for less on the used car marked simply because it is tied to Chevrolet instead of the identical Toyota name plate.
Ultrarunner's comment about the Corrolla and Geo Prism being nearly the same car at one point is true.
The BIG FACTOR IS WHO DESIGNED AND ENGINEERED THE VEHICLE.
Toyota design and Toyota powerplant designed by Toyota engineers.
It matters little where a car is assembled.
Detroit engineering (particularly anything from GM) is near the bottom!
HONDA and TOYOTA are the best in the world at this point in time.
Toyota has been since about 1974 and Honda since about 1983 when I believe it surpassed Datsun(NISSAN) in overall quality.
MAZDA, KIA-Hyundai, are also World Class Superb at this point in time.
KIA-Hyundai has only been here at the top for about five years. MAZDA has been producing great quality cars longer than Honda, Mazda since the late seventies with the GLC and RX7, 626. Hondas were lesser cars at that time, as early Civics and 1st gen Prelude and everything before the 1983 models was far behind Toyota, Datsun(Nissan), and Mazda.
Buy garbage such as American nameplates from Motown and you can expect far less in terms of useful life and way more problems.
CONSUMER REPORTS (read it and follow their recommendations as to the best car manufacturers)
If you're old enough like me, you remember the stupid, not so funny, descriptions that folks would use to describe cars that weren't the best:
FIAT= fix it again tony
MG= mechanical garbage, malfunction guaranteed
GM=garbage motors, general maladie, guaranteed malfunction, general manure
Ford=found on roadside dead
BMW=break my wallet
DETROIT, MICHIGAN = the land of junk
Chrysler=unprintable description (as in it would not be mentionable on broadcast television due to FCC rules)
Sure, some deservedly earned their colorful descriptions and they might still be applicable and for others they may have improved their reputation.
Everybody who hears the name YUGO and is over the age of 45 knows immediately what low quality, automotive garbage is. Yugo was a Yugoslavian built 1972 Fiat design that was sold here in USA in the mid eighties as the lowest price car. As horrible as early seventies FIATs were, a 1986 Yugo (essentially something like a copy of a 127 Fiat from fifteen years earlier) The Yugo engine was an exact FIAT design built under license, it was the nearly exact same powerplant that the seventies Fiat X/19 had. Quality was not improved over seventies FIAT stuff. Just horrible as it was problematic and just plain crap.
Hyundai's first models in the USA in ('87-'92) were horrible but Hyundai changed its tune and began building high quality cars by the mid to late nineties and they have been building outstanding quality cars for about a decade or more.
Follow CONSUMER REPORTS and BUY The Best Built Cars! They will serve you well and last the longest and have the least amount of problems and HAVE THE LOWEST OWNERSHIP COSTS OVER TIME.
I know there are those who love to buy the garbage makes especially late model USED cars from the garbage makers because of the Heavy Depreciation that "junkmobiles" have.
It alllows Jane Blow and Joe Blow to drive a more expensive (MSRP) "junkmobile" that is only two or three years old that they otherwise could not afford to drive.
Good makes, like HONDA, TOYOTA, and the high line greats like LEXUS(toyota) have extremely high resale values(MEANING A TWO OR THREE YEAR OLD VEHICLE RETAINS ITS VALUE MUCH MORE THAN "junkmobiles" like GM and Chrysler products)
If you enjoy frequent trips to the shop for repairs and like cars that are problematic, then you can buy a POS and get it at significant depreciated value at two or three years old. You could get lucky if you choose to trade vehicles often enough, keep them only 18 months or less, before they begin to fall apart at 4 years old. That is not smart though because I believe that you do get what you pay for and buying a POS is never a good move. It only pays if you are going to be Wally Goodwrench and do the repairs in your driveway when you need a new transmission or the engine blows a head gasket.
BUY ASIAN makes, preferrably TOYOTA, HONDA, MAZDA, KIA-Hyundai, and Nissan products for the best quality vehicles. Subaru and others are not on par with the above.
Buy European makes and American makes at your OWN RISK after doing careful research on the particular model and engine/powertrain trim. USE CONSUMER REPORTS!
Lexus is far better than BMW, MERCEDES, ROLLS-ROYCE/BENTLEY, AUDI, PORSCHE, FERRARI, CADILLAC in terms of quality, though the Lexus badge might not have the same prestige.
You can find decent quality vehicles from time to time from even the lower grade (European and American) auto manufacturers. Consult CONSUMER REPORTS for those particular few models and do not deviate from Consumer Report's recommendations.
Auto magazines carry advertising and are often in a position where they CAN'T REALLY EXPRESS HOW THEY TRULY FEEL ABOUT the quality of a certain vehicle and how it compares to its peers.
They need the advertising revenue and telling it how it is (the truth) might tick off big automakers who advertise heavily.
All cars in 2014 are far better than anything from 1989.
If you want the most for your hard earned money, BUY the Asian names that I mentioned earlier.
They might be made in Alabama, Tenn, Ga, Ohio, Korea or where ever they are assembled, but the engineering design and everything through the final assembly quality control is second to none.
Ford is the closest US maker to the Asians but FORD's quality overall is still not nearly as good in my opinion.
Buy whatever vehicle makes you happy, but don't blame anyone but yourself for buying what turns out to be a hunk of junk, if you opt for something that CONSUMER REPORTS says don't touch with a 10ft pole.
#1 secret isn't maintenance..... it's choosing the right brand/model!
I've been known to be lazy with my Hondas when it comes to maintenance.... such as oil interval of 20,000 miles and skimping on other service items. But they have gone 200,000 miles without a single problem.
OTOH..... meticulous maintenance on Ford/Chevy/Dodge and they all broke down with major problems.
I agree only buy cars that never has problems like these.
Ultrarunner's comment about the Corrolla and Geo Prism being nearly the same car at one point is true.
The BIG FACTOR IS WHO DESIGNED AND ENGINEERED THE VEHICLE.
Toyota design and Toyota powerplant designed by Toyota engineers.
Very interesting observation, comsidering the fact that some Prizms were rebadged Toyotas. The ones that weren't direct rebadges of Corrollas were a collaborative design between GM and Toyota engineers, and all were essentially 100% mechanically Toyota.
Your entire post is remeniscent of the sort of import fanaticism that caused the Mitsubishi Eclipse to be a top 10 consumer ranked vehicle the same year that its rebadged sister, the Plymouth/Chrysler Laser, ranked in the bottom 10 of the same poll.
But please don't stop. It's the propogation of this sort of hyperbolic drivel that allows me to buy perfectly good domestic-badged cars for considerably less than comparable import models.
Quote:
Buy whatever vehicle makes you happy, but don't blame anyone but yourself for buying what turns out to be a hunk of junk, if you opt for something that CONSUMER REPORTS says don't touch with a 10ft pole.
Despite the fact that I've never even looked at that magazine besides the cover, I have miraculously been satisfied with every vehicle I've ever purchased. Maybe I'm just lucky, or maybe I've just been blessed with the power of discretion and the ability to think for myself. At any rate, I'm sure they appreciate the plug.
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